Hailing from Aberdeen/Exeter, The Xcerts are a youthful trio whose ability to craft energetic and catchy melodic rock songs has earned them a recent wave of excitement and praise - especially in the wake of release debut album, 'In The Cold Wind We Smile' - not to mention a healthily rigorous tour schedule. In the midst of all this activity, here's singer/guitarist, Murray Macleod with a crash course in the life and times of The Xcerts so far.

How did you all meet and form the band?
The band formed when myself and Jordan were 14. It got to the point later on in life where we had to decide whether to keep going with the band or go our separate ways. Our original drummer had already moved to London, so we knew if we wanted to keep going we'd have to move down south. We decided to move to Brighton as it had a college we both got accepted into and it was really close to London. We met Tom through a mutual friend, and when our original drummer decided to leave, we knew Tom was the man for the job. The rest is history - as they say.

Had you been in any other bands prior to this?
This is pretty much the only band I've ever been in. When I was 13 I was in a band called Fade, which slowly but surely turned into the Xcerts. Needless to say Fade were awful.

What inspired you all to first pick up your instrument?
Blink 182 were a massive inspiration on all of us. Watching them have so much fun whilst playing music, it just seemed like the greatest job in the world. They definitely inspired me to start a band and play shows.

What has been your favourite show so far, or perhaps even just your fondest moment so far since forming the band?
We played at T In The Park last year, and that was pretty incredible. Myself and Jordan had been to T In The Park before, but only as festival goers, so to play at such a prestigious festival with the reaction we got was truly mind blowing. We also played at the Astoria in London supporting Feeder. The venue is now closed down, so to be a part of history like that is incredible. We never thought we'd get the chance to play there, but we did, and it was a treat.

Is there anyone in particular you'd love to play a show with?
We would love to play with 'Brand New'. Their last album 'The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me', is a stunning piece of alternative rock, and their live show is amazing. We will probably never be allowed to play with them, for fear of us turning into ultimate fanboys and asking them what they wear in bed. We would also very much like to play with 'Bruce Springsteen'. I don't even need to give my reasoning for this, you all know why.

How would you describe your album for those entirely unaware of it's existence?
It's a loud pop record with lots of different instrumentation. It's a very passionate album, where all 3 of us worked like dogs to make the best debut album we could. Lyrically it's pretty negative and very personal, so if you don't like the sound of that, then we're probably not for you.

What are your aspirations for the band? Do you have any collective goals or particular things you'd like to achieve?
There are so many countries we haven't played in, so playing shows all over the world is a must. Hopefully we'll return to Japan, as we had such an incredible time over there. Album number 1 seems to have been received pretty well, but I'm hoping that album number 2 does even better. We've already started work on it, and it's sounding good.....I think. A massive headline tour in the UK is being talked about, so I'm very much looking forward to our first headline tour as a band with an album out.

Finally, For such a bleak city (aesthetically at least), tell me something good about Aberdeen
If being the oil capital of Europe isn't enough, then I'd say Kilau cafe. Phenomenal baguettes and they have strongest coffee in town.

www.myspace.com/thexcerts